People are constantly searching for new ways to improve the visual appearance of the human body. Hair receives a great deal of attention in humanity's quest for beauty. Throughout the ages, individuals have used different types of mechanical devices to help shape and style their hair. Modern day inventors have recognized this demand for hair styling products and have responded by developing numerous types of barrettes.
Barrettes are well known and exist in many varieties. The present state of the art generally teaches toward barrettes that are made of two arms that are hinged together. These two arms typically have a row of teeth which operate as a hair gripping mechanism. The two arms are held together in a fixed position by a clasp. To place this barrette in a person's hair, the clasp is undone and the arms are opened. The hair is placed between the two arms in the teeth. The clasp is then closed to secure the arms.
A double sided barrette having a pair of support members is disclosed in Menaged, U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,870. This patent teaches that the pair of support members are coupled to each other by a hinge such that the support members can pivot between open and closed positions. When in a closed position, a clasp operably engages these support members and maintains them in a releasably fixed position.
A barrette that has multiple hinged members is disclosed in Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,267. This patent teaches the use of a comb integrated with one of the hinged members to improve the device's ability to grip and hold human hair.
One flaw with hinged barrettes is that human hair may become caught in the hinge causing discomfort to the wearer. It is also important to note that producing barrettes that have multiple components which have to be assembled increases the manufacturing cost. The present invention solves these problems through providing a novel barrette that is comprised of a single unit.